The region’s music scene hit a bittersweet chord this week when Fairfax City’s Earp’s Ordinary announced on social media it was closing its doors after 15 months. The 10,000-square-foot restaurant/bar/music venue will pack up its guitars and amplifiers for the last time on Sunday, April 13.
The posted message from the 290-seat venue’s management at 10420 Main Street was addressed to “Our Earp’s Ordinary Family” and graciously thanked all the musicians and patrons who “made this journey unforgettable, and we wouldn’t have made it this far without you.”
Earp’s Ordinary’s Beginnings
The bottom line, says Earp’s Ordinary founder and owner, was the bottom line. The venue began as a smaller pop-up space across the street. It was a long-held dream by Michael DeMarco, a former four-term Fairfax City councilmember and former chairman of the city’s Economic Development Authority.
“I thought the revenue would jump exponentially from the small space, and it really didn’t do it,” he says. He confirmed earlier reports that the build-out of the cavernous basement space in the 70-year-old building cost $2 million.
DeMarco says his original intention was to be “a purist and I wanted to have mostly original music.” Early bookings included singer/songwriters, bluegrass bands, jam bands, and open mic events.
“I realized quickly that people really weren’t — in this area anyway — really interested in that,” he says. A pivot to cover bands and tribute acts — faux Beatles and The Cure are on the docket tonight and tomorrow — “salvaged weekends, but weekdays were tough,” he says. “You need people to come out and spend money at the establishment. Food and drink is the key to success, really.”
The music hasn’t died just yet. DeMarco is “putting together some shows over the next couple of weeks to kind of go out with a bang,” he says.
Venues Struggling to Survive
Earp’s Ordinary is not the only area eatery to shut its doors: A record 74 restaurants closed in 2024 in the region, according to the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW).
“This is a restaurant community fighting through extraordinary pressures,” president and CEO of RAMW Shawn Townsend said in a statement. “Even our most established operators are struggling to survive as diners decline and wages and payroll taxes soar.”
There may be other places to eat and drink, but music venues booking regional talent are few. One less place for artists to find and develop audiences takes a toll.
“The DeMarcos created something quite magical,” said Jean White, who frequented the club and took photos of the artists. “It is heartbreaking that they have to close.”
“The loss of a great venue like Earp’s, which featured live original local music, feels like a death in the family,” said Adele Abrams, former DJ at pioneering radio station WHFS-FM and a local music fan. “I’ll mourn its passing.”
But DeMarco offers a coda to this song: He just might open a new joint: “Something on a smaller scale, more like my original vision, but we’ll see.”
Feature image of Red Medicine courtesy roXplosion
